Russian President Vladimir Putin met with French populist presidential candidate Marine Le Pen in Moscow on Friday, Russian state television reported.
"We by no means want to influence the current events, but we reserve the right to communicate with all representatives of all political forces of the country, as do our partners in Europe and the US for example," Interfax News Agency quoted Putin as telling Le Pen. “I know that you represent quite a fast-developing spectrum of European political forces."
Putin's meeting with Le Pen was not announced earlier this week, when the Russian parliament confirmed that the Front National leader would be visiting Moscow on Friday to meet with lawmakers.
Earlier Friday, Le Pen met Russian parliamentary speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, calling for increasing cooperation with Russia in the fight against "terrorism".
She has visited Moscow on several occasions, enjoying positive Russian state media coverage. Le Pen is among European politicians who have called for closer ties with Putin and approved of Moscow's acceptance of Crimea into the Russian Federation in 2014. Moscow has been accused of seeking to promote anti-EU candidates in European elections.
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